Yule has roots in many European traditions making it difficult to determine which traditions stem from what specific regions. Germanic peoples made sacrifices and burned Yule logs. Druids venerated Evergreens as a symbol of life triumphing over death. Romans held a festival called Saturnalia in which they made sacrifices to the God of Saturn in the name of a coming golden age.
Every person engages in some form of ritual behavior. For as long as human beings have existed on this planet, we have created and acted out rituals of every variety. From a morning coffee routine to participating in Sunday mass, rituals guide and shape our lives. This article an introduction to what will be a series of articles on modern ritualism. I hope to explore how we, as pagans in this modern society, can work to better our lives by refining our rituals and methods of worship.
Predominantly celebrated by the Gaels, the geographical distribution of Samhain encompassed regions extending from southern Ireland to Northern Scotland, including the Isle of Mann. Within the Gaelic and broader Celtic cultures, Samhain marked the conclusion of the harvest period, a critical time with festivities, stocktaking, and slaughter of cattle for winter provisions.
The Celtic peoples were a linguistic-cultural group in Europe around 2800BCE. The history of the Celts is a subject of controversy in part because the Celts weren’t too keen on keeping a lot of written records but also due to subjugation from various imperial powers, namely the Roman Empire. Few scholars can agree on what metric to use to decide who was and wasn’t Celtic. The most common defining factor is use of Celtic languages. From here Celts are generally subdivided into one of two groupings either P-Celtic vs Q-Celtic or insular vs continental Celts.